


Love Will Find A Way

by shadowolfhunter



Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Life and Death situation, M/M, Mate for Life, Potions, Renard!whump, love bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-17 20:50:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3543359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowolfhunter/pseuds/shadowolfhunter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Captain Sean Renard and Detective Nick Burkhardt have been in a long-term relationship for two years when Adelind Schade poisons Nick out of anger and jealousy. Nick no longer remembers the love he shared with Sean, and then Adalind delivers the fatal blow, she tells Nick all about Sean's involvement in his beloved Aunt Marie's death. Nick is furious and rejects Sean. Knowing the likely fatal consequences of the potion to fix Nick and Juliette's relationship, Sean still agrees to take part. After all, if he can't have his Nicky back, what's the point of going on?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Will Find A Way

Rosalee had said three o’clock, at five to the hour Sean drew up outside the tea shop.

He took a look at himself in the rear view mirror, tried to put a better face on it, it would never do for anyone to see through his façade. Adalind had finally had her revenge. Nick hated him, their love affair was over, and Nick had moved on.

Sean knew he had lost weight in the weeks since Nick had found out that Sean had had his beloved Aunt Marie killed. Since their relationship had hit the rocks of secrets and lies. Adalind had poisoned Nick, and he no longer remembered what they had once had. Then she had moved in for the kill so to speak. Made sure that Nick hated Sean. Told Nick everything, with a vicious slant intended to wreak havoc on everything that Sean and Nick had once had.

Sean had clung to the last few shreds of the secrets he had. Everyone now knew he was the bastard Prince, but no one knew he was a zauberbiest. No one knew about the mate bond. No one knew what this potion of Rosalee Calvert’s would really mean to Sean.

He couldn’t beg, he was drained, tired of it all. Too tired to fight anymore. He’d been fighting so long he’d forgotten what peace was like. Back when he had hope that Nick would remember them, remember the love they shared, Sean had been willing to fight, but then Nick met Juliette again, they’d known each other since college and love had re-kindled.

And it just like that, it was all over. Sean could already feel the tear in the bond. His forever love was gone. Once the destruction of the bond was complete it was only a matter of time.

He gave one last cursory glance at himself in the mirror. Not satisfied with what he saw, but if he was quick, and none of the people waiting for him was interested, perhaps he could pass muster. Hold on to the last scrap of his dignity.

He got out of his SUV, and locked it, heading over to the shop. They were all gathered, apparently waiting for him.

Only his iron self-control helped him deal with the cold atmosphere. Nick still surely blamed him for Marie’s death, Juliette was suspicious of him because of the strange attraction they had developed for each other. Monroe was in support of Nick, so was Rosalee…

He supposed it was right it should end this way.

*****

Rosalee studied the Captain, the man looked ill. Under his tan there was a greyness that spoke of exhaustion, and there was something about all of this that bothered her.

A bad break-up between boyfriends was one thing, but this seemed so much more than that. The little gloating visit from Adalind Schade had done nothing to ease Rosalee’s worry that they were missing something very big here.

She handed the antidote potions to Nick, Juliette and Renard. “This should bring all of you back on a more even keel, and fix what’s gone wrong.”

Just the vaguest flicker of derision from Renard’s expression had her worrying again, but the Captain tossed the potion back, placed the glass on the counter and walked out without a word.

“That’s it?” Juliette seemed underwhelmed, “I thought it would be more…”

Nick hunched a shoulder, “it’s done…” He looked as unhappy as Renard had for just a moment, and Rosalee wondered again if she had done the right thing. Only Nick had seemed so angry and unhappy, and Renard hadn’t seemed to care. Rosalee had a horrible sense of foreboding that they were hurtling down a road where Nick really didn’t want to go, and they had undone something that couldn’t be repaired.

Outside, Renard made straight for his vehicle. If the remains of the bond died here while he was on the street, he wasn’t sure what would happen, but he was unwilling to risk more lives for this. He got in his truck and headed back to his apartment.

Once their mate bond was broken and dead, he knew he didn’t have much longer. It hurt so much, and he couldn’t fight anymore, he didn’t have the strength left. He just wanted it to be over.

*****

She was running on pure instinct, but everything about fixing the potion and the spell felt wrong to Rosalee. It was the Captain, he was suffering and there was something else there beneath all of the pain and sorrow, she just had to get to the bottom of it before any more bad happened.

A mixture of charm and good manners had gotten her as far as the door to Renard’s apartment, he didn’t answer her knock, but Rosalee was not going to be deterred. A mis-spent youth had granted her one or two bonuses, the ability to pick locks being one of them. She had to satisfy herself that she had done the right thing.

She had never been inside the apartment, when she and Monroe had gone to help Nick pick up his belongings, it was all packed up neatly outside the front door. She supposed that was the first clue she had. There was nothing damaged or broken, all carefully, almost reverently, packed in boxes all neatly labeled. Renard’s façade of cold indifference, yet everything had been looked after. Nick had been thrown by that, then he had shrugged and they’d carried everything down to the truck.

The curtains were drawn when she entered. There were glasses the coffee table, and a collection of bottles, all but one empty; a few dishes in the sink, a layer of dust and a tense, sad atmosphere to the place.

It was a beautiful apartment, expensively furnished, but Rosalee’s sense of deep unease grew as she moved through Renard’s place looking for its owner.

She found him in the bedroom.

He was sprawled on his back across the bed, shoes kicked off, trench coat and suit jacket dropped on the floor, his tie still knotted but pulled down, shirt unbuttoned to the waist, empty bottle on the floor beside the bed. He looked really sick, and she realized that she was not wrong, there was so much more to this than the break up between two men.

Sean Renard was wesen, and from the look of the state of him, he was bonded to Nick.

A rush of bile to her throat, Rosalee clamped down on the nausea; she had helped to break a mate bond, and that was almost always fatal to the one who didn’t want to break the bond. It was clear that Sean didn’t want to break the bond, but Nick’s memory loss and the pain of knowing about his aunt meant that he did. Instead of fighting, Sean had given up.

Praying that she wasn’t too late, she leaned over him, stroked his cheek gently. “Sean.” His eyes opened, the green so dulled with pain and dread that she almost flinched. Hope was gone, but she was not going to let him die if she could help it.

She kicked off her shoes and slipped up onto the bed, lifting him gently into her lap. She reached for her cell. “Monroe, you need to bring Nick here, now… I don’t care… he needs to see this, needs to understand what he’s doing and what this really means.”

She rang off, reached over to put her cell down and realized there was a picture on the nightstand. It was both of them, Nick with his arms wrapped around Sean, Sean clearly taking the picture, the way they were pressed together, she could see the love light in their eyes and she knew that she had got it very badly wrong. They all had, and Sean had put Nick’s life, needs and happiness before everything, especially his own. Nick had been so suspicious of his motives, and then Adalind had dropped her little bombshell, and Rosalee could see now that was when the hope that Sean could fix their relationship had evaporated.

A shaking hand reached up, to take the frame from her hands, and he pulled it close to his heart. She watched his eyes fill with tears, he had to be hurting really badly to reveal this much to her, something slithered beneath his skin, and she knew he was too weak to even woge fully, though she could tell he was a zauberbiest. Heartbreaking that even now he was trying to chase her away.

“Hold on Sean.” She stroked her fingers in a soothing motion through his hair, the bond was tenuous at best, and if Monroe couldn’t persuade Nick, she knew they were going to lose Sean.

She hardly knew him, Rosalee guessed that none of them really did, but she was not going to let him die alone. She wasn’t going to let him die at all if she could help it. She felt she was fighting for Nick too. Nick who had lost a piece of himself, when he had broken up with Sean after Adalind’s spell. Nick who had found Juliette, but had no peace. Nick who was something more than human, but didn’t know he was throwing away the missing piece of himself.

Renard was shivering, and she reached out to pull the bedspread over him, tucking it around him, doing her best to warm him without moving from her position, he was so weak she was afraid of losing him before Nick and Monroe could get there. A few short hours since the potion and the Captain was dying.

She had no idea of time, just concentrating on the man in her arms, soothing him, talking to him, anything to keep him hanging on for just a little longer. Eventually she heard Monroe, and then joy, Nick.

“In here.”

*****

Monroe had no idea what to expect when he pushed open Renard’s door. It didn’t take a relationship genius to figure out that Renard had been holing up in his apartment for weeks. The blutbad’s sense of smell could smell the stale aroma of wine and bourbon, and possibly a little vodka.

It was the other aroma, a wesen that filled him with a certain sense of dread. The Captain and Nick had been solid for two years, and in that time, Monroe had never before had the sense that the Captain was anything other than he appeared to be; the man had turned out to be royalty, not that Monroe had much time for the concept of royalty, but Sean Renard was a bastard prince.

Realizing that Nick’s Prince was also wesen brought Sean’s behavior and actions over the last few weeks into stark relief. Monroe felt sick. He loved Rosalee, he understood what he might have to do to keep that love, to save that love, and it appeared that Sean Renard, the cool-under-fire Police Captain, was prepared to die for that same love.

Monroe turned to look at Nick.

Being back in Sean’s apartment brought flashes of things to Nick, something pale and cold and fading nudged at the back of his mind, just briefly, little flashes of colour already blinking out. Nick screwed his eyes closed, trying to remember what brought him here.

He put his hand on the back of the couch, a scene pushed its way into his memory, Sean…

It hit then, with the force of an express train, the memory that slammed into him and filled his world with light and colour.

“SEAN.” Nick spun around, panicked, as the memories came flooding back, looking at Monroe, utterly devastated, for guidance “Monroe… what have I done?” Then Monroe was pushing him in the direction of Rosalee’s voice, and he stumbled into the bedroom.

Rosalee was sitting on the bed, cradling his lover in her arms, and Nick stumbled over to the bed, “Sean.” He croaked, crawling on to the bed and reaching out for Renard.

Nick lifted Sean against him, the older man was limp in his arms, barely breathing. He’d been so angry at his lover, his beloved Aunt was dead, at his lover’s hand, but not to take Sean’s life.

Not to throw away the man he loved.

Rosalee eased away a little and beckoned to Monroe. “I can’t leave them.”

He nodded, pressing a gentle kiss to her temple. “I know sweetheart,” he looked down at Nick, bent over Renard, tears streaming down his cheeks as he begged the Prince to hang on, to come back to him.

Rosalee reached into her bag, “I need you to go back to the spice shop and bring these things back here.”

She settled with pencil and pad and began to write. “They might not be able to do this by themselves, we may have to help them along.”

Monroe took the list, and with one last kiss hurried away. Rosalee turned back to Nick and Sean.

Just Nick’s presence was enough to stabilize the bond for now, but she had the feeling that Sean was too weak to re-establish bond contact without help. They could lose him still.

They needed to look after him, and Nick needed the focus in doing something for Sean. They could best help the Captain by making him comfortable. Getting him out of his crumpled suit and into bed properly would be a very good place to start Rosalee decided.

Undressing a semi-conscious man, bigger and heavier than either of them, was not easy. Nick was strong, but it was still difficult to get Sean’s clothes off him, and him under the covers. The plan did work, Nick was focusing less on his confused grief, and more on helping Sean.

Rosalee prayed that Monroe would return soon.

Nick stretched out next to Sean once they managed to get him into the bed, arm around Sean’s neck, his other hand resting on Sean’s cheek. “Open those beautiful eyes for me, please Sean.” He whispered softly.

The zauberbiest heard him, there was scarcely a flicker left, but Sean managed to open his eyes enough to see Nick.

Nick stared deep into Sean’s eyes, whatever shields his lover had were blown, Nick could read Sean’s crumbling heart in the heavy-lidded gaze. The pain he felt about Marie nothing to the damage he had done to the man he loved. Tears rolled down Nick’s cheeks as he pressed his lips to Sean’s. “Hang on, darling, please.” Nick whispered, punctuating it with soft kisses.

Sean’s eyes closed, and Nick looked up at Rosalee, frantic with worry. “Please tell me you can fix this?”

Rosalee was torn between hope and the possible reality, Sean’s body was slowly shutting down, they needed to bring the mate bond back, it would be a long and slow process, and would probably cause Sean as much pain as he was suffering now.

She nodded, looking at Nick’s tear-stained face, she had to offer them hope. “Nick, it’s not going to be easy, Sean’s very weak.”

Nick pressed his lips to Sean’s again, “I know.”

“I’ve got everything.” Monroe reappeared in the doorway, bags laden.

Rosalee waved him over, and they busied themselves setting up to brew something, Nick focused his attention on Sean.

His Captain was struggling to even breathe, Nick gathered him as close as he dared. “I love you Sean.” There was a fondness in the green eyes gazing at Nick, but a resignation too, and that scared Burkhardt more than anything. His Sean was a fighter, and it was devastating to Nick that he’d caused this. Caused the man he loved to want to give up.

*****

Nick Burkhardt had always known that actions had consequences. He remembered being so angry with Sean when Adalind told him about his aunt. So angry he hadn’t even considered the consequences. He’d known that Sean was hiding something from him, but this?

Knowing what Sean was willing to give up for love. Nick was still angry about Marie, but knowing Sean was prepared to lay down his life for Nick’s happiness and well-being, Nick couldn’t decide if this was brave and noble, or simply the most fucked-up shit he had ever seen. Fitting all the pieces together, Sean was a Prince, and a Zauberbiest, and some of the little that Sean had involuntarily let slip about his childhood started to make a horrible, sad, twisted sense to Nick.

Nick’s own anger and dislike of Adalind Schade had contributed to this, and now Sean was really sick, and could still die.

Seeing Sean woge, or barely manage it, put some of his own actions into a horrible perspective. Sean had kept his wesen nature a secret, had been forced by Nick’s hatred to keep it a secret. Tears rolled down Nick’s cheeks. What had he done? What the hell had he been doing? They were together for two years, and he could see now that Sean had actual cause to fear what he would do if Nick ever learned that Sean was wesen.

Nick realized exactly how deeply Sean loved him. How Sean wanted to be with him so badly that he had felt compelled to hide a part of himself for fear that Nick would hate him for it.

And now Nick had dragged Juliette into this mess.

He loved her, just not the way he loved Sean.

*****

Hours passed and it seemed to Nick that Sean’s condition was unchanged. He was holding on, but that was all that Nick could say about it. He was terrified that it was too late, he’d done too much damage and Renard wasn’t going to recover.

After the last round of casting, and incantations, and the strange-smelling oil that he rubbed onto Sean’s chest, and the tea that Rosalee managed to get down Sean’s throat while Nick and Monroe supported him; Nick sat cross-legged on the bed, holding Sean’s hand, cradling his lover’s arm against him. The room was silent, Rosalee and Monroe had withdrawn to give him some space. Privately, Nick wondered if they too had given up, because Sean didn’t seem to be getting any better.

He was all cried out. There was still a huge lump in his throat, and everything hurt, the love bond he used to feel at the back of his mind, that gentle warmth, was absent.

He was brooding over what he was going to do without Sean when his lover groaned. “Sean…?” Nick squeezed Renard’s hand.

The green eyes opened, “Nick?” the voice was raspy and tired sounding, and Nick leaned in as something inside burst gloriously into life, warm and wonderful, and Nick leaned in close, pressing gentle kisses to his lover’s mouth, and Sean was finally responding.

He was shaking with emotion, Sean’s hands came up then, and bracketed his face, “Nicky…”. Nick shook his head, “you’re back.” There were so many things Nick wanted to say, but that was for another time, they’d been given a second chance, there was an awful lot Nick had to straighten out, and a lot to be thankful for, but all he wanted to do was burrow up close to his lover and hold on.

Rosalee closed the door quietly, she and Monroe would stay, because they might be needed, but the lovers needed some quiet time alone.

Sean was still weak, but not so wiped out that he couldn’t pull his precious Nicky into his arms and hold him close, and Nick fell asleep with the warmth of their love bond surrounding them both.


End file.
